Post Turkey Day Wrap-Up

Retroactive Post

So, Cami and I came to Merced home last Wednesday morning. There was a lot of traffic driving in from Sacramento (apparently some 30 million people hit the road during the Thanksgiving break, but we didn’t see most of them, I bet). It is always good to come home. Keith got here a little after we did. I spent most of Wednesday studying (or pretending to study, rather). We went and played tennis with Ashley and Tony Pipes. That was fun, but Tony had never played before… which made things interesting.

Thursday morning I played in the Turkeybowl. I have to admit the Turkeybowl isn’t quite what it used to be. There were about 30 people playing and that means too many bodies running around. Nevertheless I had a pretty good time and it felt good to run around. After that we all went over to the Callister’s house to celebrate the holiday.

There was a bunch of food and a bunch of people. Well, I guess not that many compared to my last Thanksgiving at the Callister’s. Last year they had 30+ people, this year we were a paltry 12 ½ (Wendy is pregnant). The food was great and afterward I got sooo tired. We played some games and talked for awhile before all going home and retiring for the evening.

Friday we all went to see Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. The theater was really crowded (what did you expect?) and Cami and I had to sit on one side a couple of rows away from Mom, Dad and Keith. The movie was very good, but I think I liked the last one better. The books keep getting longer and so they have to cram a lot of stuff into the film. All in all it was very entertaining and I had a good time. The movie was definitely a lot more intense than the previous ones (I think it was rated PG-13), but I don’t think that has stopped anyone from taking their kids—though, perhaps it should have.

I am not looking forward to going back to school on Monday. We only have two more weeks of class before finals start. I am feeling a little more comfortable with the material I am supposed to know by then, but there is still a long way to go. I had a moment the other day where I realized that four years is a long time to be in medical school. It’s kind of weird to think about, but from what I hear, the first two years are the most tedious, so I am looking forward to getting those done.

Cami and I will probably go to Third Ward tomorrow and then go back to Woodland. Our neighbor’s, the Blairs, claim to have more Christmas Spirit than we do. Cami took that as a personal insult and so we have a lot of decorating to do before we invite them over for treats and games. Few people have more Christmas Spirit than my wife Cami, so I doubt that the Blairs will be able to compete, even if we don’t have a nativity scene like they do. We do, however, have a Schwipbogen and a couple Nußknacker. Those poor Blairs won’t know what hit them!

Another Week In Review

Retroactive Post

Well, here I am again. I am sitting on the couch with my lappy appropriately perched atop my lap. I am a little drowsy right now, it’s that post-church, post-meal Sunday afternoon slump that seems to hit everyone. I don’t think I’ll have time to take a nap today though, as I have yet to write and do a number of other things. But first things first…

What a downer the BYU/UU game was yesterday. I watched it at Keith’s house with Dad and Uncle Richard. BYU was down 24-3 at half time and we thought it was all but over. Then BYU stages this amazing comeback to tie the game at 34-34 with only a few minutes left in the game. Then we get the ball back look like we’re going to drive the ball in for the winning score, only to lose steam. The game went into overtime and Utah scored on their second play. When it was our turn, we just bumble around and give up. It was so frustrating. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen BYU beat Utah. Yuck.

Mom and Dad came to Sacramento this weekend. Dad had Richard do some of his dental work and Mom came for the Harvest Festival. Cami’s parents came too and I think they had a good time. I had never been to the Harvest Festival and all I can say is I am glad there is a venue for people with quirky, interesting talents. There was actually some pretty neat stuff and some of those people are really talented… and some of those people aren’t. When I told my neighbor that I was going to the Harvest Festival, he told me that he was going to have to revoke my “Man Card” for conduct unbecoming to a male. Ouch.

Cami and I spoke in Church today. Mom and Dad stayed to hear us speak and brought Keith and Richard and Adele with them. It was nice to see them all in Church. Both of our talks seemed to go over pretty well, but I am glad that it’s over.

Speaking of discussions, I did invite my friend Fernando to come to Church, but he wasn’t able to come. I am glad I invited him, though, and it did pave the way to have some rather in depth conversations with him about religion. Fernando is very Catholic and probably not that interested in Mormonism, other than out of curiosity. But Sean and I have been pretty good examples and who knows what will happen some day down the road?

I have two days of class this week before taking off for Thanksgiving break. Can you believe it is already the end of November? I sure can’t, one of the reasons being that it is nearly 75°F outside. We’ve had quite a warm spell around here and I can’t believe this is supposed to be winter. Not that I am complaining, but it is a little difficult to get ready for Christmas when you could still go sunning outside if you wanted to.

School has been going well. We finally finished dissecting the head and neck and now we’re onto the back and upper limbs. I do have a lot of studying to do, the innervations and points of origin and insertion for a lot of these muscles is really complex. I’ve made different tables and charts to help me out, but at the end of the day I just have a lot of memorization to do. I am afraid I have become a little complacent with my performance. They adjusted some scores from my Biochemistry midterm and my score got bumped up to a 96%, which is great, but only reinforces my aversion towards studying. My finals are about a month away and that means I had better start taking some of this stuff a little more seriously.

Not Much Going On

Retroactive Post

Sorry about last week. I didn’t get a chance to write (I am sure you noticed that by now) because I was a little busy. I also felt like I didn’t do a lot last week and didn’t have a whole bunch to write about. Which isn’t to say that I have a whole lot to write about now (I really don’t), but I would have felt pretty bad if I didn’t write at least a little something something. So, where to begin, where to begin?

Last Thursday, Cami and I went to see Mamma Mia! in Sacramento. That’s the show that is based on the music from ABBA. It was a lot of fun. The really played just about every ABBA song I’d ever heard (with the exception of Fernando) and even threw in a bunch of them that I didn’t recognize. The tickets we got were really cheap (only $25) and so we enjoyed the view from the second to last row of the theater. We were sitting behind this sixty-something gay couple, which was actually highly entertaining. There are some funny people in this world, and you’d be surprised how many of them might show up at a production of Mamma Mia!

School has been going pretty well, I guess. I’ve really felt this let down since my midterms three weeks ago. I was studying so hard and it really paid off. However, after the first exams I was burned out. Suffice it to say that it’s been difficult to get back into the habit of studying effectively. I think I am finally getting back into the swing of things, but then again, it is a Saturday afternoon and I should be studying, yet I am writing you a letter and watching the USC vs. Cal game on TV. I did study a couple hours this morning and I’ll probably do another hour or two while listening to the BYU game on the radio.

Right now in school we are studying the head and neck. It has been very complicated but super interesting. We practically cut the head off of our cadaver this past week. What an experience that was. On Monday, we’ll actually be bisecting the entire head! Cutting off the let was something, so was peeling skin off the guy’s face and removing his brain. However, decapitating and splitting a man’s head is probably the craziest thing we’ll do. I hate to say it, but our cadaver doesn’t even look like a person anymore. However, I sure will miss anatomy class when this quarter is over.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’ve decided what I want to specialize in. Now, before I tell you, I want you to understand that my “decision” will more than likely change in the next couple years. I still have 3 ½ years before this decision is final, but for right now, I’ve decided that I want to become an Otolaryngologist. That’s a big fancy word for an ENT, which is just an abbreviation for a head and neck surgeon. ENTs get to do a lot of really neat things everything from rhino- and plastic surgery to endoscopic procedures. Surgery residencies are very competitive and there are only maybe 20 or so openings in California each year. So, I have my work cut out for me, but right now I am really excited about the idea.

Cami and I finally got asked to speak in Church. Next week I’ll talk about the Book of Mormon and Cami will cover forgiveness. I’ve known that I’d have to speak sooner or later and a week or two ago I got the impression that I should ask a friend of mine, Fernando, to come to Church. I figured it would be a good excuse to invite him to come. Fernando is in my anatomy lab and good friends with Sean (my LDS friend) and me. I figure I’ll invite Sean, too. I was hoping to be assigned a very “non-denominational” topic like faith. Instead, I’ll be talking about the Book of Mormon and President Hinckley’s challenge that we read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. I am not sure how I am going to organize my thoughts, but I think I am going to focus on how the Book of Mormon can help us and especially how we can find out that it is true. I’ll let you know how it goes. Next weekend is also the Harvest Festival in Sacramento, so it sounds like Mom and Dad might also come for the day.

Other than that, things have just been rolling along I guess. Cami is over at the Blair’s apartment right now. They’re our friends in the war d that live in our complex. They’re pretty much our only friends, which is why we were sad to find out that Mike had an interview for a job in Redding, California. Even if they get the job, they won’t move away any time soon, but it’s sad to think that we might not have our good friends so close to us anymore. Of course, I guess we weren’t really planning on sticking around here forever either. The school is supposed to move from Davis to Sacramento next year, but whether or not that happens remains to be seen.